Emotions

First Light 1 Understanding Emotions The Road to Human Freedom

First Light 2 Like Freud, too, and Spinoza as well, the Buddha believes that to understand is to transcend.

First Light 3 The fire of life must be put out. For everything in this world is on fire with the fire of desire, the fire of hate, and the fire of illusion.

First Light 4 The replacement of hate with love, but better the replacement of both by understanding.

First Light 5 An Approach Set aside, if you will, all traditional concepts of good and evil, right and wrong, pagan and Judeo-Christian and Moslem and Hindu or any religion that may be part of your mental framework; don’t deny them or throw them away, just set them aside for a short while. Take a fresh approach, if you will, to the fundamental questions such as: What is God? What is Man? What is Truth? What is Love?

First Light 6 Nature Nothing comes to pass in nature which can be understood as a flaw; for nature is always the same, and everywhere one in the same in her results and effects and power of action. True? Nature’s laws and ordinances, in which all things come to pass and change from one form to another, are everywhere and always the same. True?

First Light 7 Nature So one might assume that there should be one and the same method of understanding the nature of all things whatsoever, namely, through nature’s universal laws and rules. Thus the passions of hatred, anger, envy, and so on, considered in themselves, follow from this same consistent pattern of results and effects and power of action.

First Light 8 Nature And we, therefore, for a little while anyway, will consider human actions and desires in exactly the same manner as though we were concerned with lines, planes and solids.

First Light 9 Mind and Body No one knows how or by what means the mind moves the body. No one knows how the mind is “connected” to the body. Body cannot determine mind to think, nor can mind determine body to motion or rest. One can say, “I will raise my hand,” and then raise a hand. This is easy and simple. But one cannot “will” the hand to raise. Thus when people say that their minds “control” their bodies, they are using words to describe a phenomenon they do not really understand.

First Light 10 Mind and Body Since no one understands the connection, yet everyone knows there is a total connection, it perhaps is safe to assume, at least for most intents and purposes, that body and mind are one and the same thing – a thing that can be thought of from (1) the angle of thought or mind or (2) the angle of action or bodily function. This is important when we consider that a mental decision and a bodily appetite are simultaneous, or one and the same thing, which we call (1) decision when it is thought and (2) a conditioned state when it is the body in action.

First Light 11 Emotions Everyone shapes their actions according to their emotions. Desire may be stimulated by almost anything. Experience abundantly shows that people can govern anything more easily than their tongues, and restrain anything more easily than their appetites.

First Light 12 Emotions Emotions do not have only one satisfying object, but are able to derive satisfaction from almost any object whatsoever. The most spiritual forms of human love have the same emotional foundations as the most bestial forms of human lust. Anything can, accidentally, be the cause of pleasure, pain, or desire.

First Light 13 Hope-Fear – Confidence-DespairJoy-Disappointment Hope is an inconstant pleasure in which we do not know the result (in doubt). Fear is an inconstant pain in which we do not know the result (in doubt). If the result becomes clear, hope becomes Confidence (a more constant pleasure), and fear becomes Despair (a more constant pain). Joy is pleasure in the positive result of doubt. Disappointment is pain in the negative result of doubt.

First Light 14 Joy Disappointment Hope Fear Confidence Despair 12

First Light 15 Pity-Approval – Envy-PrideCompassion-Emulation Pity is pain arising from another’s hurt (if the other resembles ourselves). Approval is pleasure toward a person who confers a benefit on another (if the other resembles ourselves). Envy is hatred, hence pain (but tinged with the pleasure of pride). Pride is a pleasure of thinking too highly of one’s self (or too poorly of a hated object). Compassion is an imitation of a negative emotion in others (pain). Emulation is an imitation of the desire in others.

First Light 16 Pride Envy Emulation Compassion Pleasure Pain Approval Pity

First Light 17 Benevolence-Ambition-KindlinessPraise-Blame – Honor-Shame Benevolence is a will or appetite for doing good that arises from compassion. Ambition is a will or appetite for doing good that arises from emulation and usually ignores benevolence. Kindliness is ambition that does not ignore benevolence. Praise is a pleasure one shows at the action of others. Blame is a pain one shows at the action of others. Honor is a pleasureone feelsat the perception of praise from others. Shame is a pain one feels at the perception of blame from others.

First Light 18 Blame Blame Praise Praise Emulation Benevolence Ambition Kindliness Honor Honor Shame Shame

First Light 19 Love is pleasure accompanied by the idea of an external cause, and hatred is pain accompanied by the idea of an external cause.

First Light 20 The idea that our own likes and dislikes should meet with universal approval is really ambition. If everyone thinks this way, then all stand in each others way, and all become mutually hateful.

First Light 21 Jealousy Jealousy is hatred combined with envy toward an object of love. Timidity causes a person to turn from what they wish for. Bashfulness is timidity because of shame. Consternation is the timidity of not knowing which is the lesser evil to choose, when a choice must be made.

First Light 22 Anger-Cruelty-Revenge-HatredGratitude-Thankfulness-Joy Anger is the endeavor to injure someone we hate. Cruelty is the endeavor to injure someone we hate, especially if they have done nothing to deserve it. Revenge is endeavor to repay in kind an injury done to ourselves. Gratitude is reciprocal love, or Thankfulness. Hatred is increased by being reciprocated, and can on the other hand be destroyed by love. The Joy of Hatred or Revenge is always accompanied by a certain pain.

First Light 23 Pain Thankfulness Anger Revenge Gratitude Hatred Love Cruelty Joy Joy

First Light 24 Repentance-Complacency Wonder-Horror – Veneration-DevotionContempt-Derision-Scorn Repentance is pain with one’s self as cause. Complacency is pleasure with one’s self as cause. Wonder is incomparable awe. Horror is incomparable evil. Veneration is awe at people who we regard as far surpassing ourselves in achieving the level of our aspirations. Devotion is love joined with veneration and awe. Contempt is the opposite of wonder or awe. Derision springs from contempt of what we hate or fear. Scorn is contempt of what we deem stupid or ridiculous.

First Light 25 Wonder Horror Veneration Derision Awe Contempt Devotion Scorn Repentance Complacency

First Light 26 Good and Evil Good is every kind of pleasure, especially those which satisfy our longings. Evil is every kind of pain, especially those which frustrate our longings. We don’t desire something because we think it is good, we think it is good because we desire it. We don’t hate something because we think it is evil, we think it is evil because we hate it. So every person, according to their emotions, judges a thing to be good or evil, useful or useless.

First Light 27 Desire – Pleasure – Pain Desire is the actual essence of the human being – the primitive or primary Emotion Number One. Desire is the raw material that is modified into the more specific emotions. Pleasure is Emotion Number Two. It is why emotions feel good, when they feel good. Pleasure is a transition from a lesser to a greater perfection. Pain is the Third Emotion. It is why emotions feel bad, when they feel bad. Pain is a transition from a greater to a less perfection.

First Light 28 The “Only” Three Desire Pain Pleasure External Cause Customized Emotion

First Light 29 The “First Tier” Love is pleasure with an external cause. Hatred is pain with an external cause. Inclination is pleasure with an accidental cause of the pleasure. Aversion is pain with an accidental cause of the pain. Devotion is love (is pleasure) toward one whom we admire. Derision is pleasure in seeing a quality we despise in an object we hate. Hope is an inconstant pleasure. Fear is an inconstant pain.

First Light 30 Wonder Horror Inclination Aversion Love Hatred Devotion Derision Hope Fear

First Light 31 The “Second Tier” Confidence is pleasure caused by removal or lack of some doubt. Confidence is a positive transition from Hope. Despair is pain caused by removal or lack of some doubt. Despair is a negative transition from Fear. Joy is pleasure caused by removal of all doubt. Disappointment is pain caused by removal of all doubt. Approval is love (pleasure) at one who has done good to another. Indignation is hatred (pain) at one who has done evil to another.

First Light 32 Wonder Horror Inclination Aversion Joy Indignation Love Hatred Approval Devotion Derision Confidence Despair Hope Fear Disappointment

First Light 33 The “Third Tier” Pity is pain at the misfortune of others. Envy is hatred (pain) at another’s good fortune, and pleasure at another’s evil fortune. Sympathy is love (pleasure) at another’s good fortune, and pain at another’s evil fortune. Repentance is pain at something we have done that we regret. Regret is pain at the remembrance of something we have done, or something that did not turn out well. Self-abasement is pain at thinking too poorly of one’s self and the power of our actions.

First Light 34 The “Third Tier” Self-approval is pleasure at the perception of ourselves and the power of our actions. Pride is the pleasure of thinking too highly of one’s self from self-love. Humility is pain arising from one’s feeling of one’s own weakness of body or mind. Partiality is the pleasure of thinking too highly of someone because of love. Disparagement is cutting someone because we think too poorly of them. Contempt is thinking so poorly of someone or something that they’re not worth thinking about.

First Light 35 The “Third Tier” Gratitude is thankfulness, is pleasure, is love. Benevolence is the desire to benefit one whom we pity. Emulation is the desire of something because others whom we admire have the same desire. Anger is the desire (through hatred) to injure someone. Revenge is the desire (trough hatred) to injure someone who has injured us. A negative transition of anger. Cruelty is when someone injures one whom we love or pity.

First Light 36 The “Third Tier” Honor is pleasure at some act of our own which we believe is praised by others. Shame is pain at some act of our own which we believe is condemned by others. Daring is the desire to do something dangerous which others fear to attempt. Cowardice is the failure to do something because of fear that others dare to do. Ambition is the immoderate desire and love of power. Avarice is the immoderate desire and love of riches.

First Light 37 The “Third Tier” Timidity is the desire to avoid a greater evil, which we dread, by undergoing a lesser evil. Consternation is not knowing what to do when faced with evil. Courtesy is a desire to act in a way that will please others or not displease them. Luxury is the immoderate desire and love of living sumptuously. Intemperance is the immoderate desire and love of drinking alcohol. Lust is desire and love in the matter of sexual intercourse (whether immoderate or not).

First Light 38 Analytic and Synthetic Concepts An “analytic” concept is one in which the predicate is part of the subject. Obvious. A tall man is a man. An equilateral triangle is a triangle. A “synthetic” concept is one that is not “analytic.” All concepts that we know only through experience of ourselves or others are “synthetic.” Inferred. Tuesday was a wet day. Napoleon was a great general.

First Light 39 Empirical and “a priori” Concepts An “empirical” concept is something we cannot know except by the help of the five senses, either our own or that of someone else whose testimony we accept. Experience of the senses. Observation. The facts of history and geography are empirical. So are the laws of science, whenever our knowledge of their truth depends on observational data. An “a priori” concept is seen to have a basis other than experience. 2 + 2 = 4 Experience of certainty. Logic.

First Light 40 Analytic Empirical Observed Obvious Absolute Inferred Logical Space Time “a priori” Synthetic CategoricalImperative

First Light 41 Bibliography Baruch de Spinoza. Tractatus Theologico-Politicus (written 1665-1670, published 1670) (translated by R. H. M. Elwes, 1889). Baruch de Spinoza. Ethica in Ordine Geometrico Demonstrata (written 1662-1675, published 1677). W. H. White and A. Stirling. Ethics (1894). Bertrand Russell. A History of Western Philosophy (1945). Dagobert D. Runes. Spinoza: The Road to Inner Freedom (The Ethics) (written by Spinoza 1662-1675, translated by Elwes, edited by Runes, published 1957).

First Light 42 The complete understanding of emotions and of their causation deprives them of their overmastering quality.

First Light 43 The Categorical Imperative Hypothetical Imperative “You must do so-and-so if you wish to achieve such-and-such an end.” Categorical Imperative “A certain kind of action is objectively necessary, without regard to any end.” The categorical imperative is synthetic and “a priori.”

First Light 44 The Categorical Imperative The Categorical Imperative “Act only according to a maxim by which you can at the same time will that it shall be a general law.” Or, stated another way, “Act as if the maxim of your action were to become through your will a general natural law.” Theft and murder, for example, are condemned by the categorical imperative. Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you.

First Light 45 Spinoza Today, after having been one of the liberating thinkers of mankind who was read but not honored, he is honored but not read. Spinoza implies that even at the risk of keeping our heads empty, it is necessary we keep our minds simple and pure.

First Light 46 Spinoza The necessary condition of human morality is responsibility, not irresponsibility; reliability, not unreliability; certainty, not uncertainty; a firm will, not a “free” will. Moralizing rules and theological ritual are anything but the true road to ethics. The very elements in people’s nature which cause them to fall are the means by which they can make themselves rise. Pit one emotion against another and the stronger will not merely win, it will win-over the weaker.

First Light 47 On Marriage In marriage, legal or religious or social ceremonial law can at best secure man or woman wealth and social position. Happiness or blessedness lie beyond the powerful reach of these laws. Natural love, or love free from all ceremonial coercions, is not merely a questionable source of marital happiness: it is the only source. It must be among our chief ethical rules to see that we build the lofty structure of human society on the sure and simple foundations of the human organism.

First Light 48 Principal Emotions Sorrow Astonishment 12 22 20 22 i 12 22 22 12 i 12 12

First Light 49 Principal Emotions 14 12 14 Pity Approval Disappointment 22 14 14 Sympathy Partiality 22 14 16 Honor

First Light 50 Principal Emotions 20 14 16 20 Kindliness Thankfulness 19 20 20 Daring Revenge 19 16 Cowardice Deference

First Light 51 The pursuit of happiness requires that we turn our back on it. If happiness does come it is always as a by-product, never the end product.

First Light 52 If we did not desire, we would not be frustrated; if we felt no attachment, we would not be anxious; if we were not involved with things, their transience or imperfection could not touch us.

First Light 53 The Buddha possesses nothing, thirsts for nothing. His symbol is the lotus, a flower which springs from the filthiest waters; but it floats on the surface and is never wetted by them; it remains untouched, cool and self-contained, complete and perfect, a jewel floating upon the waters.

First Light 54 8-Fold Noble Path Right views Right aspirations Right speech Right conduct Right livelihood Right efforts Right thoughts Right contemplation 8 8

First Light 55 “For my part, when I enter most intimately into what I call myself, I always stumble on some particular perception or other, of heat or cold, light or shade, love or hatred, pain or pleasure. I never can catch myself at any time without a perception and never can observe anything but the perception….” David Hume

First Light 56 Darshana – a particular point of view. Synthesize the various darshanas into one comprehensive word view, the understanding of which will bring emancipation. I believe in everything.

First Light 57 The Nature of Human Knowledge Three forms of human knowledge Understanding, also called perception Reason Intuition, also called wisdom A universe of knowledge in three buckets: what you believe you know or don’t know; what you know because it is purely logical (2 x 2 = 4); and what you know you know because it is common to all men and women.

First Light 58 Spinoza conceives of human beings as mechanisms in nature that are motivated by self-preservation and individual advantage, and who, by the mutual employment of reason, can improve their way of life.

First Light 59 Ethics, for Spinoza, is a knowledge of “the right way of living,” that allows people to rise above temporary desires and reach a natural participation in an “eternal blessedness.”

First Light 60 Spinoza seeks improvement of the mind not just as a theoretical exercise, but as a remedy against three ethical hindrances – the overvaluing of wealth, fame, and sensual pleasure.

First Light 61 The human mind and the human body are one. Therefore thoughts and emotions are one, therefore ethics includes both mental and physical. Spinoza’s concept of ethics, therefore, emphasizes the connection, not the separation, between the mind and the body.

Emotions

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